IL Postcard

Mexico: The World's Best Retirement Haven

Date: 09/01/2008 Author: Laura Sheridan

Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008

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Dear International Living Reader,

For the second year running, our Annual Global Retirement Index rates Mexico as the best country in the world to retire to.

In Mexico, you can afford the kinds of luxuries only the wealthy enjoy up north: a maid, a cook, and a gardener, for example. Whether your vision of the ideal retirement involves shopping, fishing, sunbathing, diving, mountain climbing, collecting crafts, visiting archeological sites, going to concerts, attending the theater, or fine dining, in Mexico you can engage in all of these activities, and many more.

But let me back up for a moment to explain how our Annual Retirement Index is rated. In this Index, featured every September in your International Living magazine, we analyze 29 countries, ranking them in categories including real estate costs, special benefits offered to retirees, culture, safety and stability, health care, climate, infrastructure, and cost of living.

We look closely at the best opportunities worldwide for retirement living. Where will the pensioner’s dollars go farthest? Which country is the safest? Where is the health care best? We give top priority to those things that matter most to anyone planning for retirement, including programs of special benefits for retirees (tax breaks and discounts, for example, that various governments offer to residents, sometimes specifically to foreign residents in an effort to attract investment and retirement dollars).

Mexico scores high across the board in our Index, receiving 77 points out of a possible 100. It especially scores high in the real estate, safety, climate, and health care categories (see page 28 of the magazine to learn more about how you can save thousands of dollars by getting your dental work done in Mexico).

Mexico offers the perfect mix of centuries-old traditions and contemporary lifestyles. It’s easy to get a residence visa. And the services, amenities, and discounts offered to retirees here are just as bountiful as in Panama, with its famous pensionado program, as are the overall cost savings. Plus, Mexico is closer to home. In fact, foreigners who hold a valid residence visa for Mexico can now take part in Mexico’s senior citizens’ benefits program. The program, for adults aged 60 and over, offers discounts on a wide range of services, such as discounts on health-related services (hospitals, doctors’ visits, lab tests, medical devices, pharmacies, and dental work); cultural activities like theater tickets and entrance fees to museums and archaeological sites; travel-related costs, including airline tickets, buses, car rentals and purchase, and hotel accommodation. Discounts can be up to 50% off the full price of the good or service.

This country is so diverse that everybody can find exactly what they want: beautiful, warm oceans; crystal-clear tropical lakes; fertile farmlands; temperate-but-majestic mountains; starkly gorgeous deserts; small towns or sophisticated cities.

And because of its geographic diversity, you can also choose your favorite climate: from warm and dry to warm and sultry to spring-like temperatures all year in the Colonial Highlands.

And if you’re looking for the home of your dreams, you can find it in Mexico...for much less than it would cost you most anywhere in the U.S. or Canada. The real estate market offers endless possibilities for your retirement. You can own beachfront—not just ocean-view—property in Mexico for less than $100,000.

Mexico is a big country. So, for your convenience, in your September issue, we have chosen our top three retirement havens within this country, offering you three different areas of Mexico. From the bohemian, sophisticated city of Merida, where you can buy a colonial home to renovate from as little as $30,000…to the casual beach lifestyle of Manzanillo, where you can pass your retirement days engaging in water-sport activities like scuba diving and fishing…to the affordable, cultural gem of Xalapa.

Also in your issue this month, we profile Billy and Akaisha Kaderli, who retired in their 30s. For the past 18 years, they have been global travelers, exploring and living in the Americas and Southeast Asia. Read about their enviable lifestyle starting on page 20 of the magazine.

Suzan Haskins travels back to Ecuador—which comes second place in our Index this year—to find a different country to the one she and her husband Dan lived in six years ago. “The dollar is alive and strong in Ecuador,” Suzan says. Read her report on the real estate markets in Quito, Cotacachi, and Otavalo, starting on page 8 of the magazine.

Uruguay ranks fourth in our Index this year, and in your September issue, Steenie Harvey explores Montevideo. “It’s weird for a capital to lurk so far under the radar, especially one that also has beaches,” Steenie says. “Amazingly, you can still buy small apartments here for less than $50,000—or rent a stylish studio for $400 to $600 monthly.” Uruguay isn’t the Latin America Steenie knows from other travels. Read her article, starting on page 24.

In our Property Picks section, we feature houses for sale in our top eight retirement havens.

Finally, in our Last Word, Lee Harrison talks about the lessons he learned when he was looking for his ideal retirement locale.

Laura Sheridan
Managing Editor, International Living

Editor’s Note: International Living is essential reading if you are looking for your ideal retirement haven. You will save yourself time and money by reading what our in-country experts and far-flung reporters have to say about the world’s best retirement destinations. If you’re not already a subscriber, click here to sign up today.